Racial Inequality in America’s Neighborhoods Over Generations

PITTSBURGH—Patrick T. Sharkey, associate professor of sociology at New York University, will deliver a free public lecture at noon Dec. 3, titled “A Multigenerational Perspective on Neighborhoods and Racial Inequality.” The talk will take place at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center on Race and Social Problems, School of Social Work Conference Center, 20th floor, Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

Sharkey’s presentation is the last one of the Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC Fall 2013 Speaker Series. Registration is not required; lunch will be provided. For more information, visit www.crsp.pitt.edu or call 412-624-7382.

Sharkey, who is affiliated with NYU’s Robert F. Wagner’s Graduate School of Public Service, has investigated the persistence of inequality in American cities as well as what mechanisms allow inequality to be prolonged through multiple generations of families. In his recent book, Stuck in Place: Urban Neighborhoods and the End of Progress Toward Racial Equality (University of Chicago Press, 2013), Sharkey explores what he calls some of the most persistent forms of racial inequality—gaps in income and academic test scores—and considers the neighborhoods in which Black and White families have lived over multiple generations. Only a durable urban policy agenda, Sharkey says, will change the outcomes for these families and the communities they call home.

The Center on Race and Social Problems’ annual Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC Fall 2013 Speaker Series provides an opportunity for faculty, staff, students, and members of the community to engage in race-related discussions of mutual interest. The Center’s Reed Smith Spring 2014 Speaker Series will begin in January.